haha and ha. Good choice. So if I visit the Bronx does that I mean I am supposed to try actual crack-cocaine? Yeah the idea is kinda gross but I do like meatless options that taste like meat so if it doesn't actually have animal products in it I will probably end up having a taste of that weird beer. Makes sense that you wouldn't. Actually makes much more sense that you wouldn't want to then that I would want to but I am a very curious person and sometimes like to try things even if I expect them to not taste good.

C.O. wrote:So if I visit the Bronx does that I mean I am supposed to try actual crack-cocaine?

The Bronx ain't Rome. When in the Bronx, you're supposed to go for Italian and Puerto Rican food. If it comes with a side of rock and a pipe, you can always ask if they'll substitute an order of onion rings instead. Many places will.

I just read this article about beer being often served too cold that it loses its flavor. I thought it was interesting. I like some beers served cold (Heineken) and some more closer to room temp (ambers). Here's the article. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/drin ... tter_.html

C.O. wrote:I just read this article about beer being often served too cold that it loses its flavor. I thought it was interesting. I like some beers served cold (Heineken) and some more closer to room temp (ambers). Here's the article. http://www.slate.com/articles/life/drin ... tter_.html

The fact that Heineken needs to be ice cold should be a tip off that it's a terrible beer. When a beer is too chilled, it tastes more like "cold" than anything else. For some beers, that's good, because those beers are awful. Many of them have their places, particularly when you want something cheap, light, and refreshing, but they aren't good at being beer.

Too much cold is murder on the esters and aroma in particular. If you can't smell any particular characteristics, you probably won't taste them either. Of course, you can just wait a few minutes and take another sip to see if you notice a difference. It's rare a beer is _so_ chilled that it's actually damaged.

blabbate wrote:The fact that Heineken needs to be ice cold should be a tip off that it's a terrible beer. When a beer is too chilled, it tastes more like "cold" than anything else. For some beers, that's good, because those beers are awful. Many of them have their places, particularly when you want something cheap, light, and refreshing, but they aren't good at being beer.

Found another nummy, drinkable chocolate stout: Boatswain Chocolate Stout. It's lighter and less thick and sweet than the usual chocolate stouts, with a hoppy-er finish, so it's not really my style but it's a good beer to use to introduce a Pale Ale lover the world of chocolate stouts. Caveat: only patrons of Trader Joe's will be able to enjoy this one, it's their own private label that Rhinelander Brewery puts out for them. You won't find it online except at beer rating sites like this one: http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/435/75507

If you want to try it, and your local Trader Joe's has it in stock, trust me: call them NOW and have them set aside a few bombers for you. It sells so fast, they barely stock the shelves with it before it's gone. Yesterday, my store had fifteen cases of it, tonight there are four left. Yup. And the only way I even knew they got it in was that I knew the sommelier and told him to personally tip me off by phone. Well, now isn't that special. (Church Lady voice.)

You'll learn things you never knew about the corporate-vs.-private brewers out there, you'll watch beer drinkers totally screw themselves in a blind tasting of the top three megabreweries, Coors, Miller, and Anheuser-Busch, and you'll feel better about yourself and your highly evolved taste buds as you drink your tasty, local microbrew. The mega-corporations spend their money on commercials and marketing, not beer development (as the blind tasting clearly attests) and have neutered their beer flavors down to a watery drivel that looks the same, tastes the same, and appeases the masses. They sell image and entertainment, not beer. Funny how many people miss that simple fact, though, when they shush their friends to reverent whispers during those Super Bowl commercials. Think fast--when was the last time one of those commercials talked exclusively about how good the beer tasted? The giants have learned to push consumers to buy their products rather than respond to market demand. The CEO of Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales aptly states, "I think at the end of the day, I think people want to be recognized as individuals. They don't wanna be told what they should drink, they want to discover it for themselves and that's what we're all celebrating...."

And there's a darker side. The big guys break the law to sway their buyers, giving them free cases of beer (illegal) and free stuff (also illegal) as incentives (read: bribes). They blatantly steal formulas, concepts, and marketing ideas and turn around and market them as their own genius, even suing the little guys to remove beer names that the big guys actually stole in the first place. There's also trickery and deception in location. Organic Wild Hops Lager is labeled as being brewed at the Green Valley Brewery in Fairfield, CA. News flash: there IS no Green Valley Brewery in Fairfield, CA, only a gigantic Anheuser-Busch plant. Surprise, surprise. So much for the quaint local brewery image.

The megacorps buy out smaller breweries and absorb them like the Borg, not because the little guy's beer is superior, but because the brand sells, like Rolling Rock, which got devoured by Anheuser-Busch in one gulp. (Since then, Rolling Rock is no longer made in glass-lined tanks, which made it famous in the first place--did you know that?) Anheuser-Busch has bought out 54 breweries and incorporated them under their label in the last 10 years. Yes, you read that right: 54. Recently, Coors and Miller actually joined forces in an attempt to compete with the behemoth but the monster won again in the end. It sold itself out to a mega-MEGA-corporation, InBev, for 52 billion dollars. InBev now controls Budweiser, Michelob, Beck's, Stella Artois, Bud Light, Rolling Rock, Bass, and Grolsch, making it the largest brewing company in the world. Gulp!

Most importantly, these biggies muscle small breweries out of the distribution centers, centers that were put in place after prohibition to prevent breweries from selling directly to the public and therefore, supposedly, eliminating monopolies and other naughtiness. The way this three tier system works is: you can be a brewer or you can be a distributer or you can be a retailer but you can only be one of each. And there is a chain of command. The brewer has to deliver their product to a distribution center which then ships the stuff to a retailer where you and I can finally purchase it and enjoy. We can't get it directly from the brewery, not even online. A microbrewery has to get space in a distribution warehouse to store their beer and then the stores like Safeway and Trader Joe's can get it from there. But guess who owns the distribution centers? That's right: Coors, Miller, and Anheuser-Busch. So much for preventing monopolies. Did you know there are 37,000 beer-related laws in this country? We may need a few more....

Brace yourself, this is gonna make you ill: Anheuser-Busch makes the most financial contributions to political parties and has the most lobbyists out there right now working their little tails off to keep that unfair three tier system in place because, hey, it's working for Anheuser-Busch. Yet the point they make when they make their pitch to Congress is that this system "levels the playing field" so that everybody gets an equal shot at success. Oh, bite me. Big business mixed with politics is a dangerous brew.

In the end, there is no such thing as "a level playing field" in the beer industry. There is only consumer power. After all, if Bud Light wasn't selling, they wouldn't have so many lobbyists (nor could they pay them). If you truly love the taste of Bud Light above all others, then go for it, you have my blessing. But if you prefer the originality of a finely crafted ale made by people who love brewing for it's own sake, then you have my everlasting, malty devotion.

My favorite quote in the whole movie? "When somebody asks me if want a Budweiser, I tell them to it put back in the horse."

If those three are all I had left, I'd be fine with that. Just don't push a bottle of that wretched Stella Artois at me and expect me to drink it because it's from Belgium!

Actually, there's one more, but chances are I won't be coming across it again any time soon:

Best damned stout I ever had (and priciest beer I've ever purchased), but at this point in time, I'm not planning on driving two states away and taking a weekend off to camp out in hopes of securing a few bottles.

"A 'hardgainer' is merely someone who hasn't bothered to try enough different training methods to learn what is actually right for their own damned body." - anonymous

I'm far from a beer expert (most microbrews that people rave over don't do much for me), but good Belgian ales tend to have a potently high ABV kick while not tasting too strong, most are quite mellow and low on hoppiness and bitterness. Content for most of the Belgians I like range from about 7.5% to 11% (I forgot to include a picture of Piraat, which would round out my top favorites, with it being on the high end of the spectrum). Duvel is a great starting point for general quality Belgians, not too pricey and not too strong, Chimay is more rich in body and more expensive, Trippel Karmaleit is pretty much in the middle (been a while since I've had one, but probably closer to Duvel than Chimay in appearance/body/flavor from memory). Can't go wrong with any of those! Dark Lord is brewed only once per year by Three Floyds, I was lucky enough to get to know a guy who would travel down and get a case to bring back to his store, but unfortunately, once he went out of business my connection was lost Price back around 2007 was still about $22 per bottle, I hear it has gone up considerably, but damned if it wasn't THE best stout I'd ever tried, and I used to be a stout fanatic years ago. Only way most people can get it is to get tickets and drive to the brewery for their big weekend in April when they release the yearly batch. Otherwise, you have to know someone who was willing to make the journey, and from what I hear, those people usually want a LOT for anything they bring back and are willing to part with! But, should you get the chance to ever get your hands on a bottle, it's well worth the investment, just be sure to tuck it away for a special occasion to celebrate

"A 'hardgainer' is merely someone who hasn't bothered to try enough different training methods to learn what is actually right for their own damned body." - anonymous

Like I said, it was expensive, but considering I was fortunate enough to share 3 bottles with a friend to celebrate his wedding engagement, I figured it was worth the splurge

You'll find the Belgians I recommended to be MUCH more reasonable. Not "cheap", but if you're a microbrew fan, you'll find them pretty much in line with pricing on most specialty craft beers, from around $2.50 - $5.50 per regular sized bottle (double that if you drink them out at the bar), but of course, getting the 750ml size once you find what you like will yield better savings

"A 'hardgainer' is merely someone who hasn't bothered to try enough different training methods to learn what is actually right for their own damned body." - anonymous

I went to this metal show at a bowling alley (because that's what we do in Brooklyn, we're weirdos) this past weekend, for the Heavy Metal Brew tour. I had Ballast Point for the first time there. The make a good stout "Sea monster imperial stout" and even better IPA "Big eye IPA". See them on tap have a taste. I guess they're from San Diego, but popular enough to make it out to a show in NY so maybe you guys will see them in a bar near you sometime too.